Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves? "The Equalizer 2" (2018 release; 121 min.) brings the on-going stories of Bob McCall. As the movie opens, we are on "Turkish Railway, 400 km. from Istanbul", and we see our man McCall in disguise confronting a group of Turkish men about the kidnapping of a young girl from her US mom. It's not long that McCall takes care of business and we see the young girl reunited with her mom back in Boston. We then go to "Brussels, Belgium", where a couple is brutally murdered but the perpetrators make it look like it was a murder-suicide. What is going on here? At this point we're less than 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.<br/><br/>Couple of comments: both director Antoine Fuqua and leading man Denzel Washington return for more, after the unexpected hit that was 2014;s The Equalizer (itself loosely based on the 1980s TV series). McCall is a Lyft driver who, being the ex-CIA guy that he is, also dished out vigilante justice on behalf of those who need it, a veritable and seemingly indestructible one-person army. It makes the role appealing and a bit mysterious, but it also presents a big challenge for the viewers. How to get invested in a story when the outcome is all but inevitable? Denzel is Denzel, always worth watching, but even he cannot solve this conundrum. Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman both return as well, in small but vital support roles. Ashton Sanders gives a good performance as Miles, the neighborhood kid in which McCall takes an interest and sorta mentors.<br/><br/>"The Equalizer 2" is now in its third week in theaters, and has done nicely at the box office. Fuqua has already said that he's interested in making a 3rd movie. I'm guessing that before Denzel says yes to another chapter, he'll want to see some fresh ideas in the script. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended very nicely (25 people or so). If you liked the first movie, you almost certainly will like this installment as well. I, for one, found it a bit too traditional, dare I say, predictable. But don't take my word for it. I'd suggest you check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion. This Denzel movie was good but I felt something missing… I'm a huge fan of his movies but still something missing . The franchise, however, feels less solid than Washington’s performance. There’s a formulaic quality to it, an aversion to the basics of world-building that gives The Equalizer 2 an outdated feel in a cinematic landscape where more attention is being paid to continuity and myth-making.
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